Dylan Peterson's Enforcer Arc Won't Move the Needle on Blues Depth Props

Dylan Peterson is doing exactly what a depth forward should do in preseason—making noise, dropping the gloves, forcing the coaching staff to account for his name on the roster sheet. After two seasons grinding in Springfield, the 6-foot-4, 192-pound forward has fought in both of his first two exhibitions, including a bout with Kyle Burroughs against Dallas and an early-game tussle with Jack Anderson two days later. St. Louis head coach Jim Montgomery has acknowledged the effort. But effort and roster positioning are not the same as reliable offensive production, and that distinction matters for anyone tempted to build a prop card around a potential Blues lineup addition.

Peterson's AHL track record is what it is: 13 goals and 22 points in 52 games last season (2024-25), paired with 82 penalty minutes. This season in Springfield, he's posted 12 goals and 12 assists in 57 games with 85 penalty minutes—a 0.42 points-per-game pace that would rank him outside the top 100 forwards in NHL scoring. His size and physicality are real assets for a team valuing heavy play, but they are also the ceiling of his utility. If Peterson lands an opening-night roster spot, he will occupy a fourth-line or third-line right wing slot, touching the puck 8-12 times per game with no power-play exposure. Montgomery's public comments about Peterson "grabbing a job" signal opportunity, not guarantee—and even if St. Louis carries him north, the sample size of his NHL play will be too thin for meaningful prop pricing until he accrues 200+ minutes of ice time.

The structural problem is clearer when you map the depth chart. St. Louis has crowded depth at forward: the team is competing for playoff positioning, not rebuilding around a prospect, and Peterson is not a prospect—he's a 24-year-old depth lottery ticket. If he makes the roster, he will be a pre-game scratch in games where the Blues face teams with faster, positionless defenses. If he doesn't make it, he's back in Springfield, and his preseason performance evaporates from the betting market by October 3rd. Either way, the edge for a bettor is invisible. His goals, assists, and shots-on-goal props would be offered at very low volume and priced accordingly, assuming the book even lists them during a spot-duty role.

For bettors holding opening-night Blues props—team total, spread, individual scoring lines on core players like Tarasenko or Kyrou—Peterson's roster inclusion or exclusion changes almost nothing. He is not touching the first or second line. He is not killing penalties. He is not running the half-wall in the offensive zone. What he is doing is taking reps away from someone equally fungible, which the market has already priced into St. Louis's baseline talent curve. The fights are flavor; they are not a mechanism for sustained offensive pressure or game-outcome variance at the NHL level.